Odin S Promise Is Historical Fiction For Middle Grade Readers, A Novel Depicting The First Year Of German Occupation Of Norway As Seen Through The Eyes Of A Young Girl.Eleven Year Old Mari Grew Up Tucked Safely Under The Wings Of Her Parents, Grandma, And Her Older Siblings When Hitler S Troops Invaded Norway Under The Guise Of Occupying A Friendly Country, She Is Forced To Grow Beyond Her Little Girl Nickname And Comfortable Patterns To Deal With Harsh New Realities.At Her Side For Support And Protection Is Odin, Her Faithful Elkhound.After She Witnesses A Terrifying Event On The Mountainside, Truths Are Revealed The Involvement Of Her Family And Friends In The Resistance The Value Of Humor In Surviving Hard Times The Hidden Radio In Her Grandma S Cottage.Odin, Not One For Quiet Resistance, Makes An Enemy Of Soldiers Who Patrol The Area.The Year Will Bring Many Challenges, As Mari Confronts Danger, Develops Her Inner Strength And Voice, And Finds She Is Able To Endure Hardship And Heartache.

I found Odin s Promise to be a beautifully told story of courage and perseverance in the face of immense challenges Mari s very appealing as a main character, an eleven year old girl whose 1940 Norwegian village has been taken over by the Nazis She struggles to adjust to the often frightening changes in her world But through it all her beautiful Norwegian elkhound, Odin remains by her side But after Odin makes enemies of some of the soldiers, Mari really starts to worry about how she and her family will survive.I ll admit that one of the first things I did after I started reading the book was look up Norwegian elkhounds on the internet I wanted to know what they looked like Odin, it turns out is mostly black with white only on the tips of his paws and the tip of his tail I confess I fell in love with Mari and Odin s relationship from the first page.Not only is this a sweet story about the relationship between a gir...

I just ordered 2 copies of this book from Barnes Noble, one for me and one for my mother, and I am so excited to get them When I first read the book description, I immediately thought of my mother, who was also born and raised in Norway during the German occupation Only difference is, my mother didn t have a Norwegian Elkhound, instead she had her beloved horse Raska who helped her get though these hard times Ironically though, our family did raise Norwegian Elkhound puppies Growing up and even now, my mother always told us the stories of growing up during these difficult times in Norway She grew up on a small farm near Korgen Norway which is in the Northern part of Norway My mother and her family also feared the German soldiers and when they showed up at her family farm, whatever they had was THEIRS now As kids we were NEVER allowed to have German cars, German Shepard dogs, German anything It took a German foreign exchange student who lived on our family farm in North Dakota and went to school with us for a year for my mother to let go of her fear and hatred for anything German and realize that not all Germans were bad I plan on sharing this book with my own kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews so they can learn what growing up was like for their beloved Mor Mor Thank you to the author for writing this book, ...

Life hadn t changed much for Mari, 11, and her beloved elkhound dog Odin when the Nazis invaded Norway and some German soldiers moved into her village, Ytre Arna At least, not until one day in late August when she and Odin ran into two soldiers, nicknamed Scarecrow and The Rat by villagers, while berrying on the side of a mountain The soldiers were forcing her Jewish neighbor Mr Meier, to walk at gunpoint despite his being injured and bleeding Feeling threatened by Odin s growling, Scarecrow tells Mari she will get both of them shot if she can t control her dog.Mari is the youngest of three children and her family has always treated her in a babyish way, but now things are changing and Mari must change with them The Nazis have outlawed radios, news sources, even their traditional Norwegian dress their king has fled to England and the government is being run by a Nazi puppet named Quisling It is suddenly a whole different world, but at least Mari has her constant companion Odin Only now, Odin has two enemies and they carry guns.When ...

Odin s Promise is a moving historical middle grade novel set in Norway shortly after Germany s invasion in 1940 during World War II In a style reminiscent of Lois Lowry s Number the Stars, the author introduces us to Mari as she and her Norweigian elkhound, Odin cross paths with German soldiers escorting her battered and bleeding Jewish neighbor out of the village We soon learn that the German s occupation of Norway has created a culture of fear within the small village But, underneath, the proud Norweigian people engage in a quiet rebellion as neighbors and friends band together in helping each other survive this horrific time in our collective history.Odin s Promise is a story of hope in the midst of fear and misery Odin, the brave and loyal companion to Mari, represents the strength and defiance of Mari, her family, and their community in the face of the ever present iron fist rule of the Nazi soldiers Of note, Odin s Promise is based on stories told to the author in her travels to Norway Aside from the obvious factual information regarding Germany s invasion of Norway, the author incorporates other real events ...

ODIN S PROMISE is a must for a MG schools readers From the very first page, I was swept up in this WWII story about an eleven year old Norwegian girl named Mari and her dog, Odin and the invasion of Nazis into her village ODIN S PROMISE is a riveting and beautiful story about courage, sacrifice, defiance, family, and love that will sweep readers up and transport them to Norway The scenes are vivid and realistic, yet perfect for MGers Students will feel deeply for Mari, and even though this novel is set during the Holocaust, this tells a different side what life was like for a Christian family with Jewish friends and how the Nazis treated the Norwegian people and the land they invaded This is an important story The acts of defiance, the sense of pride and community by the Norwegians during WWII will open readers eyes The descriptions of community, faith, and love are ins...

Thanks to the kidlitexchange network for a review copy of this book All opinions are my own.I really enjoyed this book This is the story of young Mari, a girl living in Norway during WWII during the German occupation At the beginning of the story, she is unaware that her family is involved in the resistance, but as time progresses, she is told and about what they and other Norwegians a...

Odin s Promise is about an eleven year old girl, Mari and her dog Odin in 1940, in newly occupied Norway The Germans had come and pretended to be friendly, but rapidly placed and restrictions on them including things like not being able to wear their traditional dress for celebrations Food was heavily rationed, radios were forbidden and it became difficult to know whom to trust Some Norwegians, in order to get ration cards joined the NS and worked with the Germans but many formed the underground resistance.Odin s Promise was inspired by several actual events that took place during the war in Norway At the end of the book you ll find that information in the author s note as well as information on Syttende Mai Norway s Constitution Day There is also included a glossary of Norwegian and German words and a list of other books for middle grade middle school readers about the same time and place in history.The book was a fascinating account of the difficulties of life for a young person during wartime For those young people who have been fortunate enough never to have faced war this book may help them understand some of the deprivations that they would have to endure if our country were occupied by another.I enjoyed the family relationships in Mari s family, particularly the camaraderie she had with her brother Bjorne I also liked the close relationship that Mari h...

Mari and her dog, Odin, are suffering under the German occupation of Norway during WWII The food is wretched, the schools are not even safe, and horrible Nazi soldiers roam the town, beating up old men and dogs Mari s much older brother and father are working with the Resistance, and even her grandmother is trying to do her part to fight against the Nazis Mari even tries her hand at helping a little, but when a tragedy occurs and she no longer has Odin, she realizes how horrible the war is.Strengths The research that went into this book is very evident, and the characters are all well drawn and sympathetic at least the Norwegian ones The Norwegian Resistance was very clever and very interesting, and there aren t a lot of books that cover it This would be a good introduction to the topic for middle grade readers.Weaknesses There wasn t anything fresh in th...

I loved this story I first read about the German occupation of Norway and the Norwegian resistance in Steve Sheinkin s BOMB and I thought the subject was interesting I like World War II history and that time period in general, so this book was something I really wanted to read While reading this book, I learned even about the Norwegian resistance and the culture history of Norway Ms Brehl wrote a believable, exciting story with characters you care for I like that she wrote a sub plot into the story to show that sometimes even the enemy is thrown into situations they can t help being in or maybe don t want to be in Mari is a great main character The reader can really understand how she feels throughout the story Ms Brehl includes a bibliography and glossary in the back section of the book , which is very helpful I enjoyed the descriptions of the Norwegian setting I could picture the small streets and hillsides in my mind It is a good contrast when Ms Brehl describes the beautiful s...